Consoles VS PC: My Mock Interview with Sony & Microsoft

I recently decided to opt out of the next generation of consoles to pursue my interactive entertainment through a dedicated gaming PC. Sony and Microsoft quickly caught wind of my intentions (no they didn’t) and organized an intervention to correct my newly-planned future course of action (again, no they didn’t). The following is a word-for-word transcription of that conversation.

*For simplicity’s sake, Sony and Microsoft will be represented by the title “S & M” throughout this discussion. Mostly because those initials are as silly as this article.

——–

S & M: It has come to our attention that you may purposefully pass on the upcoming machines we have yet to officially mention, that you’re considering skipping the next generation altogether! Tell us this isn’t true!

Me: Partially true, and not in your favor, I’m afraid. You see, picking up a dedicated gaming PC seems so much more sensible to me.

S & M:Oh. A PC.

Me: Yep.

S & M:That guy.

Me: Uh-huh.

S & M:You must have overlooked the gravity of this decision, of this mistake! Do dreaded driver updates and the constantly evolving video card market mean nothing to you? It’s a desolate road of non-stop hassles and headaches. And the colossal costs alone, my goodness! Surely the balance sheets don’t fit with your late-college budget?

Me: That depends on your perspective, really. Yes, a bleeding-edge technological masterpiece would undoubtedly set me back thousands of dollars I don’t have, but I’m not interested in bleeding. Rather, I just need my games to run. Run well, mind you, though I can achieve that at little more than five hundred dollars.

S & M:We don’t believe you.

Me: You should. I’ve been gaming on my years-old college laptop for the past year or two, a machine that cost less than $500 when new and was never meant to be used this intensively. Still, I managed to make titles as current as Kingdoms of Amalur and The Old Republic playable on this thing. Needless to say, I’m more than used to the occasional struggle by now. Just imagine what a proper PC could do, even in the sub-$1000 price range!

M:But anything over $500 is absurd!

S (to M, with flashbacks from 2006):Would you shut up!

Me: Right. And again, this all comes down to perspective. I admit that I’ll probably be paying more up front for a PC than either of you will charge for your new consoles, but the savings are in the extras. And by extras, I mean games. Have you seen those Steam sales?

S & M (in perfect unison):We don’t talk about Steam.

Me: Then I will. I have over 70 games in that digital library and didn’t even need to drop $200 for the collection in total. To speak of Amalur again, for example, I grabbed a downloadable copy for five bucks over Black Friday. Five bucks! For a triple-A 2012 release with a console counterpart that currently retails at $39.99! Even your evil nemesis known as the secondhand market can’t compete with those numbers. Plus, I haven’t played more than 20 games from my ever-growing trove. In other words, I’ll have more than 70 readily available and accessible titles for my shiny new PC on day one. Backwards compatibility at its finest. Have anything to say on that front?

S & M (spoken with venom):…Good luck with local multiplayer.

Me:As you’ll see here, I don’t engage in multiplayer whatsoever, let alone the local type.

S & M: Dammit, but we’ve got exclusives you’re not going to get anywhere else! You loved Uncharted and Journey, we know it! You simply cannot dispute that fact!

Me: Don’t worry, I won’t. You’ve got me there.

S & M:*high-five*

Me: Kind of. Journey and the Uncharted series supplied some of the finest times I had during this generation, but they alone cannot justify choosing consoles over PC. Compared to the past, I barely enjoyed any console exclusives this time around. I played your Resistance and Red Dead Redemption, your inFamous and LittleBigPlanet, and nothing really hooked me the same way that so many PlayStation 2 and GameCube games did. Old greats like Metal Gear and Final Fantasy have lost their way with me, and don’t you dare mention Kingdom Hearts III.

*S looks awkwardly toward Japan*

Me: And video game capture. How cool is that, right?

S & M (discussing together):Can we do game capture? I think so…

Me: Yes, you can, but with external equipment — expensive external equipment — that makes your machines even more of a hassle than upgrading a PC. Can I leave now?

I’ve been playing my Steam games more on my new gaming laptop than on my much more powerful gaming desktop these days. Currently experiencing a wonderful last week of 2012 playing Borderlands 2 that I bought for 50% off Steam’s Winter Sale on my Asus G55 laptop in the living room. Oh, wait. What’s that? An HDMI port at the side?

Alright! Turn on Big Picture, whip out my X Box Controller and I’m playing an excellent game to end 2012 with.

http://twitter.com/OldLeafNick Nick Cane

YOU HAVE THE ABILITY.

http://twitter.com/tbiz33 BeastlyRip

pc/ps4 next gen for me!!

http://twitter.com/OldLeafNick Nick Cane

Y’know, I’m down just probably wont be affluent enough.

Jay Curtis

Same here

http://www.facebook.com/logan.hollinger Logan Hollinger

I thought I was the funny one! (Kidding.)

Jay Curtis

This has got to be the most creative piece I’ve seen in a while. I enjoyed it to say the least.

http://twitter.com/TheMrFraz Luke Frazier

Ha, appreciate it, Jay. That’s what a trip through the original Fable, a lack of sleep, and too much coffee will do to a man!

http://twitter.com/OldLeafNick Nick Cane

A *reasonable* gaming rig is nothing more than a nice computer with access to your graphics card and (maybe) HDD or RAM. And you use a computer every. single. day. I use my PS3 to watch tv every day, but not to game.

NOT TO MENTION if M$oft launches the XBox like they did the 360, it’ll be more expensive than any DIY tower. $350 system, $100-ish HD, $60 XBL Subscription, $50 extra controller, most-likely a $60 wireless adapter … and then another $300 when it ultimately breaks. At least the PS3 was up-front with the cost upon release. Not to mention a lot of devs dislike the Xbox and/or PS3 because of their – ahem – stringent DLC and digital release policies.

And, sadly, modern gaming has relegated (IMO) the console’s best feature of being able to simply put in a game and play it to obsolescence. Any triple-A title has massive installs nowadays. And good luck using your PS4 to shop on amazon or type articles …

Join us PC gamers luke … yesss … it’s good here

http://twitter.com/TheMrFraz Luke Frazier

Did you build your own PC? Are you capable in this area of expertise? If so, and if I gave you a dollar amount, could you design the ideal gaming PC for me? For, say fifty bucks?

http://gamers-association.com/ havoklegend

S & M: No! We have Achievements/Trophies!
Me: I don’t care.

Gasp…at least there’re Steam achievements…now if only they would centralize their achievement system like Live or PSN.

Jay Curtis

I wonder why Steam hasn’t centralized its achievements yet? Possibly so it doesn’t seem to similar to Xbox Live?

http://twitter.com/OldLeafNick Nick Cane

Because Valve like to let developers make good games and not hamper them with a bunch of meaningless hoops to jump through,

http://twitter.com/TheMrFraz Luke Frazier

But guys! Now we can earn Achievements with an iPhone game! And by playing Windows 8 Solitaire! How dare you call that meaningless!

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